The Hobbit: An Unexpected Interference
by Madame Tortilla
Summary: Maria Cooper is a young woman working at Florish and Blotts. One day, she comes across an old parchment written in a strange language. Through unknown magic, she crosses a veil between worlds and reaches Middle-Earth, where a strange man named Gandalf deems it wise to bring her along the quest to Erebor. Thorin/OC, slow build. Canon/Lore wise on both fandoms.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing except Maria Cooper. **

**Chapter One: Curiosity**

_Curiosity is not a sin... But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed. _

~J.K. Rowling, "The Pensieve," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000 spoken by the character Albus Dumbledore

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This story began on a warm summer afternoon.

When Maria Cooper heard the front door at Flourish and Blotts open for the millionth time that day, she knew full well that yet another parent would be asking - no, demanding - to purchase their child's yearly book supplies as fast as possible. The chaos in the antique book store was maddening during this particular season; it drove the staff almost to an exceeding degree of insanity during rush hours. However, Maria had already assumed beforehand that she would surely receive a raise for all her hard work and excellent treatment of customers. If anything, Maria Cooper had always been a most prized addition to the staff of Flourish and Blotts, given her natural ability of convincing other people to buy what she wanted them to think they needed, rather than only what they really required. It served her well when necessary.

'Excuse me, Miss?' A wide man with a scruffy beard, wearing ridiculous purple robes approached her, holding a pile of papers that Maria wearily assumed to be the confirmation of yet another hundred Defense Against The Dark Arts books being delivered. 'Where can I find the owner of this establishment? I need his signature as soon as possible; the lads are waiting for orders outside.' The man pointed at the papers he was holding with one fat finger, clearly impatient.

Maria sighed. This was going to be a long day.

'Stay here, I'll call him.' She gave her wand a hasty flick and a dozen tomes obediently fell into place on the nearby shelves. 'Just don't leave, alright? Can't have you wandering around the store with all this ruckus going on.'

Maria gave the man one last glance as she watched him nod, and quickly headed to the back of the store, bumping into a young witch who collided with a collection of Astronomy books, scattering them on the dusty wooden floor. Muttering an apology, Maria tried not to step on any of the books and made a personal note to clean that mess when she returned. Disappearing into the crowd, she fought her way through the droves of witches and wizards who'd brought their children, along with just about every other living blood relative, to facilitate the search for school books. She felt the start of a nasty headache as she opened the door that lead to a small, restricted warehouse within the store, home to some of the most ancient tomes and spell books. Here was the staff's (including Maria's) refuge during breaks. At the moment, the smell of dust and mold covering the volumes did nothing to ease how rapidly unwell she was starting to feel, but Maria figured it was nothing a good warm bath and a long rest wouldn't solve.

'Miss Cooper, what brings you here?' Came a surprised voice from behind the massive shelves on her right. 'Shouldn't you be tending to our customers? Mrs. Wimple will require assistance: she did inform you about her inability of handling children all alone, did she not? You know how vexed she feels when poorly behaved children wander away from their parents-'

'Well, er, yes.' Maria had the decency to look sheepish at this. 'I know, but I was sorting out some books when someone showed up out of the blue to inform me that the new Defense Against The Dark Arts books just arrived. I apparently can't sign for them, because they asked for you specifically.' She gave the manager of Flourish and Blotts a shrug and leaned on the wall with her arms crossed. 'The usual man dressed in purple is waiting for you at the Magical Beasts section and seems quite impatient for those papers to be signed. Is there anything else you need from me before I get back to my previous task?'

There was the thump of a book slamming shut and the manager of Flourish and Blotts, a tall, lanky man with a sullen expression, came out from behind the massive shelves holding a book with a rather worn-out leather cover. He gave Maria an exasperated glance and frowned, the thin lips beneath his massive mustache twitching irritably.

'Bureaucracy, Miss Cooper, is the devil's invention. You seem an intelligent young woman; trust me when I say no job description holding the words "administration" or "procedures" is worth the hours of stress unless you are able to delegate the task to someone else entirely.' The manager shut his eyes tightly and rubbed his temple before giving Maria a contemplative look. 'However, now that you're here, I believe your job application mentioned you had been a member of Slytherin House?'

Arms still crossed, Maria straightened from her earlier position, slightly surprised at the question but giving her best effort to appear neutral.

'Yes, that is correct.'

'Good,' said the manager, appearing to be greatly relieved. 'Then I trust you are well acquainted with Horace Slughorn? He is an old friend of mine and has agreed to donate a few singular books to Flourish and Blotts; he will be delivering them in person, today, at seven o'clock. Professor Slughorn shall arrive through Floo-Powder, I believe. Unfortunately my presence is required elsewhere and there will be no one here to welcome him,' Maria could see where the conversation was heading. 'I would appreciate if you were available to receive this most generous addition to our store and see to it that the books are kept safe as soon as they arrive. We will be announcing a very special limited edition release in a fortnight and this needs to be taken care of with some urgency.'

'Of course, I'll be here.' Maria's headache couldn't get any worse. During school years her former Potions Professor had acknowledged her existence since she had been in his old House. He had never thought much of her skills, something Maria didn't mind terribly. On the other hand, today she wanted nothing more than to go home and rest, the problem being that, as a lowly employee, she was obliged to take orders even while still being clever enough to know which opportunities she could refuse. 'Anything else?'

The manager clasped his hands together. 'Excellent! Now, off you go! I can already hear Mrs. Wimple's cries for assistance just outside the door. There is much work to be done.'

Maria's gaze followed the manager as he quickened his pace and opened the door out of the warehouse. She could hear voices inside the store, surely several families had entered the store in the last few minutes and, of course, she was required to give assistance. She sighed, wishing for the day to be over. The best thing that could happen to her at the moment would be the manager informing her of having received an owl from Slughorn saying that he couldn't deliver those books until the next day. Preferably during the morning; Maria had always been a morning person.

Exhaling heavily, Maria Cooper gave the warehouse one last glance and opened the door, steeling herself for the next few hours of afternoon pre-Hogwarts chaos.

oooOOOooo

It was around seven when Maria, who was currently sitting behind the book store counter, glanced at the lively green fire in the fireplace. She fought the urge to roll her eyes when a short statured man with a large belly and an enormous silvery walrus-like mustache appeared from the green flames, his usually shiny bald head covered in a slight layer of dirt. As Maria expected, he brought with him a firmly closed box under his arm, though it was not as great nor seemed as heavy as she had imagined previously. Her headache had grown considerably and so had her desire to go home.

'Professor Slughorn?' she called, standing from her comfortable chair behind the counter. 'I expect you arrived without issue?' Maria directed a pleasant smile at her former Professor.

Horace Slughorn turned to Maria, surprise written all over his features, and marched towards her with the sort of jovial smile she knew him for. Despite being relatively good-natured, Maria knew that the Professor could be somewhat rude towards the people he did not find important enough to warrant his attention, although he had always been polite to her. Somewhat hypocritical, she thought as an imperceptible twitch appeared on her lips for less than a second. Being the daughter of a Pure-Blood wizard and a Muggleborn witch, Maria was considered a Half-Blood according to wizarding society standards. This was something that, throughout her school years, had affected her to a minimum since Maria's father had some connections within the Ministry. However, they had not been nearly as significant as those of other students who immediately attracted Slughorn's attention even before his arrival during her sixth year, and Maria had never been among the best or the brightest, despite her ambitions. It was Maria's idea that Slughorn's attitude towards her had been but a polite manner of showing some respect, even if he did not consider her important enough to address her more enthusiastically.

'Good evening, young woman!' Slughorn greeted, appearing to be slightly puzzled. He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced apprehensively around the dimly lit book store, so filled with life only hours ago and now eerily silent. It could be unsettling, Maria admitted. All the spell books and tomes were full of magic, which made the surrounding air feel marginally heavy. 'I was expecting the manager of Flourish and Blotts to come and receive this,' he pointed at the wooden box under his arm. 'But it seems I was mistaken! Although a pretty face is always a nice thing to see – even for an old man like me.'

The nerve! Did he not even remember she had been in his House?

'I apologize on his behalf for the inconvenience, but the manager had some pressing issues to deal with and regrettably was unable to be present at this time.' Maria answered through clenched teeth, but Slughorn did not seem to realize the tension as he shrugged her words off with a laugh and a wave of his hand.

'Unexpected but not altogether appalling, my dear. What matters is that our, er, investment arrived and now stays safe,' said Slughorn. 'I trust you have been informed of the necessary procedures?' He winked at her, causing a vein in Maria's forehead to start throbbing in irritation. There was that word again, _procedures_. No wonder the manager did not want to be present at this hour, he simply wanted to delegate the task to someone else to fill in the paperwork – the cheating, lying –

Fortunately Maria was capable of keeping her emotions in check if the situation required it. On the other hand, if she were to spend more than a few minutes in the company of this man, given her terrible mood, Maria doubted she wouldn't say something she would regret later on.

'Of course, rest assured that everything will be taken care of accordingly.'

'Excellent! Well, it would be best if this were only opened in the presence of your superior, though I doubt such a well-mannered young woman such as yourself would ever leak any information to the public eye, even if she did get a peek.' Once more, Slughorn had taken the liberty to wink at her as she turned to carefully place the wooden box on the counter. Maria said nothing, her smile being the only reply. However, she couldn't help wanting to burn the gigantic roll of parchment Slughorn presented her next. Wearily, she signed it, knowing full well that this had all been a way for the manager to weasel out of paperwork.

'And these are for you to sign as soon as possible,' said Slughorn, conjuring a pile of documents, 'since you were the one responsible for receiving the package. Your manager knows he has to sign the last document, although I am counting on you to remind him of that small detail. We can't afford to overlook anything!' He laughed, placing a hand on Maria's shoulder. She couldn't have felt more miserable at the moment.

'Well, my dear, it is getting late and there's a dinner party I must attend. Have a good evening and give my best to your superior!' Slughorn checked his pocket watch, unaware that Maria was clutching her wand to prevent herself from lashing out at him or throwing all the documents at his face.

'Good evening.' Maria bit her lip to hold back a very loaded retort.

She watched as Slughorn entered the fireplace and then disappeared in the green flames, leaving her alone in Flourish and Blotts for the night. Impatiently sweeping an escaped curl from her eyes, Maria sighed at the thought of having to deal with a mountain of paperwork before going home. Her headache was nearly blinding now, though she believed this was due more to the fact that she was furious rather than merely from exhaustion anymore.

As she sat on the comfortable chair behind the counter, Maria took one of the quills and started going through all the paperwork. She fervently hoped no one would tell Slughorn about his dirty bald head during the dinner party.

oooOOOooo

It was a quarter to ten when Maria finally finished going through all the paperwork. Now all she needed was to take the box into the warehouse and go home. This was something that made her feel greatly relieved, despite all the harrowing events of her day. Unlike what most people thought, working in a book store like Flourish and Blotts wasn't an easy task.

Maria placed the dreaded paperwork inside the first drawer on her right and proceeded to take the wooden box into the warehouse – glad that it was indeed quite light. Maria wondered what kind of books could be contained inside the unassuming crate and decided that, after everything she had been involved in without her consent, she was entitled to give them a peek. Slughorn had even given her permission, although Maria didn't know if this was just his way of preventing her from actually seeing what was inside the box or his vanity speaking. From what she knew of Slughorn's personality it was most likely the latter.

Carefully placing the wooden box on a small desk in the warehouse, Maria muttered a spell so she could have a little more light surrounding her. It was eerily quiet in the warehouse. Only the wind rustling and slight creaking noises could be heard, apart from her own breathing. Everything else was silent.

Maria found that opening the lid was not as hard as she had previously thought it would be; she wondered why Slughorn hadn't covered the box with protective charms in order to prevent any form of robbery. From what she had understood, the documents stated that during this limited edition release both the previous owner and the store would profit from it. Slughorn was a Slytherin at heart, indeed.

The lid of the box opened with a slight creak. From the spines, Maria could tell there were at least four different books, each one with its particular colour, the first being red, the second green, the third blue and the fourth yellow. Somehow, she thought with a snigger, Maria was reminded of the Houses in Hogwarts. What was this? Had Slughorn stolen these books from the library after the castle was almost destroyed during the battle, or had he obtained them from another source? Maria found it hard to believe that Slughorn would steal something so important, but kept her options open. People could always surprise you when you least expected, although it would have been a very distasteful thing to do if her suspicions were proven true.

She opened the first book: it still smelled of mold and its pages were yellowish. This was certainly very old –

A single piece of parchment fell from the pages of the book. How long had it been concealed there? Maria carefully put down the red book and bent to pick up the piece of parchment from the cold floor. It was as yellowish as the book, but while the latter was written in archaic English this had some sort of hidden message in a language she didn't recognize. The writing was very delicate, quite beautiful to look upon. It certainly wouldn't do to leave it without proper inspection, Maria was now quite curious as to what the strange symbols meant and decided it would do no harm to take it home. No one would miss a small piece of parchment when inside the wooden box lay four rarities of the utmost kind.

Maria quickly closed the lid and exited the warehouse, anxious to discover what that writing meant – after a good night's sleep, of course. She then folded the parchment and tucked it inside her purse, thinking about secret codes and curious messages while she hurried home, amused that at least she had found something worth her time after a heinous day.

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**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This will be an HP/Hobbit crossover and the pairing will be Thorin/OC with a slow build. Any reviews or critiques are appreciated, the next chapters will be longer. Any questions, feel free to PM. Reviews are appreciated!**

**EDIT 19/05/2013: Due to excess of college work I will not be able to update as quickly as intended. However, be sure to expect the second chapter in late June/early July (at the end of my exams). During the holidays new chapters will be posted regularly, each holding at least 10,000 words. This will be quite a long story, as you can see. A third of the second chapter has already been through beta, although for obvious reasons I cannot spoil it for anyone or post part. I can only post once a month in order to guarantee the same level of quality and detail every single one of you who enjoy this story deserves.**

**I would also like to thank everyone who left a review, followed or favourited this story. It means the world to me. **


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